Kennwort: Berlin-Tempelhof

A PRIZE OF GOLD is a typical British thriller/adventure of the 1950s, featuring imported Hollywood heavyweight Richard Widmark - one of the better stars of his era. It's set in occupied Germany, where Mai Zetterling is leading a troupe of orphaned kids in a bid to make a better world, but all of this gets sort of jettisoned about half an hour in when this becomes a men on a mission movie. Widmark has to assemble a team to steal a gold shipment, and the crime plays out in the last half an hour. Screen favourites like Eric Pohlmann, George Cole and Nigel Patrick prop up the cast, and although this film isn't very well known, it's quite enjoyable.

Richard Widmark gets to play a sympathetic role for once in this early heist thriller in which nearly ten years before producer Cubby Broccoli made 'Goldfinger' Widmark was already trading in Nazi gold in this smuggling yarn based on a novel by Max Catto to be cherished for the opportunity to see the likes of Mai Zetterling, Nigel Patrick at his most jauntily amoral, George Cole (speaking with an outrageous Scots accent), Donald Wolfit, Erich Pohlman and Olive Sloane in glorious Technicolor.

Boasting its own title song, with a score by Malcolm Arnold that's noisy even for him. Shot by future Bond cameraman Ted Moore it all looks terrific although the cute little red bubble car in which Widmark nips about Berlin is hardly 007's Aston Martin.

This Mark Robson's film produced in England is more European than American. Only Widmark brings the US touch. This is not a bad film though, just common, without any more ambition to entertain and bring something unusual. I can't say any harm about it, but nothing exciting either. What can I say? In terms of heist film, there were dozens of this kind better than this one, for instance THE DAY THEY ROBBED THE BANK OF ENGLAND, directed by John Guillermin and also starring an American actor - Aldo Ray - for this British film too. Both films, however, show some similarities. Same kind of ending for instance.

Richard Widmark was sometimes quite good in his more edgy, grittier parts - but shove him in an uniform and he is really just a pretty boy - like he is here. When a cache of gold is discovered by some remarkably honest folks dredging a river in Berlin, it is turned over to the joint British and American authorities and "Joe" (Widmark) is charged with shifting it. Meantime, he and his pal "Morris" (George Cole) have their jeep pinched by a youngster. Giving chase, he arrives at a bombed-out building being used as a makeshift orphanage by "Maria" (Mai Zetterling) and "Dr. Zachmann" (Karel Stepanek). He wants to help, and so with his pal and a pretty ruthless "Hammell" (Nigel Patrick) finds a way to divert the gold and... Donald Wolfit is quite effective as the pretty devious "Alfie", but the rest of this blurs a decent adventure caper with too much romance and Widmark really isn't on very good firm. The dialogue is wordy and rambling and though the ending is rather befitting - for Patrick anyway, it is all just a bit routine and humdrum.

Strong points of this film are scenes of Berlin, still showing signs of the war, and glimpses of London back streets in the mid-1950s, plus a strong cast, with Widmark, Patrick and Wolfit having the most striking screen presences.

APOG started off slowly, then became more interesting as the plot to steal the gold developed. But the last 30 minutes or so saw some implausibilities, not least in the actions of a couple of the characters, their changes of heart and the coincidental meeting right at the end.